Knock-down shipping cable reel

ABSTRACT

Knock-down reel structure for shipping heavy electric cable, wire rope and the like, in which the reel is disassembled when empty and returned to its shipping point in a knocked-down condition. The reel is in the form of two annular flanges or heads having radially outwardly opening channels extending inwardly of the inner margins thereof, for interlocking engagement with radial flanges at opposite ends of drum sections, in which the drum sections are in abutting engagement with each other, providing a cylindrical drum between the flanges and bolted or otherwise secured to each other.

United States Patent 1191 Benson et al.

KNOCK-DOWN SHIPPING CABLE REEL Assignee: The George Evans Corporation,

Moline, 111.

Filed: June 12, 1972 Appl. No.: 261,940

US. or 2427115, 242/773, 24271188 Int. Cl B65h 75/22, B65h 75/14 Field of Search 242/115, 118.8, 77.3, 77.4,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11] 3,827,651 Aug. 6, 1974 3,565,363 2/1971 Mizuguchi 242/1188 X 3,704,838 12/1972 Bernier et al. 242/1 18.8 X

Primary Examiner-George F. Mautz Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hill, Gross, Simpson, Van Santen, Steadman, Chiara & Simpson 7] ABSTRACT Knock-down reel structure for shipping heavy electric cable, wire rope and the like, in which the reel is disassembled when empty and returned to its shipping point in a knocked-down condition. The reel is in the form of two annular flanges or heads having radially outwardly opening channels extending inwardly of the inner margins thereof, for interlocking engagement with radial flanges at opposite ends of drum sections, in which the drum sections are in abutting engagement with each other, providing a cylindrical drum between the flanges and bolted or otherwise secured to each other.

2 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures KNOCK-DOWN SHIPPING CABLE REEL FIELD OF THE INVENTION Knock-down cable reel construction for shipping heavy electric cable, wire rope and the like in which the reels when empty may be knocked down and returned to the point of shipment in a knocked-down condition.

BACKGROUND, SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION Large diameter cable reels made from wood or metal, have heretofore been in common use for shipping electric cable, wire rope or other similar materials. Such reels are shown and described in the US. Pat. Nos. to Lewis et al, 2,010,821, Foukal 2,043,197, Mc- Cann 2,055,179, and Panser 2,561,288. Since such reels are made from metal, they are usually of a welded or semi-welded construction, making it difficult to readily disassemble the reels and return the reels to the point of shipment in a knocked-down form.

Applicants assignee has also previously made knockdown cable reels which have been in commercial use, but which also require bolting in a multiplicity of places making it diflicult to mate the parts and lending to the difficulty of knocking down the reel and returning it in a completely disassembled condition.

The reel of the present invention is an improvement on the prior art reels in the simplicity and design of the reel, and ability to take it apart and reassemble the reel with the use of a minimum amount of tools, in which the fastening means are so arranged as to take little if any of the stress imposed on the reel, when winding or unwinding cable therefrom.

An advantage of the present invention, therefore, is that the reel may readily be assembled by merely placing the drum parts of the reel in channels carried by the flanges thereof and detachably securing the drum parts in end-to-end relation with respect to each other.

A further advantage of the invention is the provision of a rugged knock-down cable reel for efficiently shipping heavy cable and retaining the cable on the reel while in use, but readily knocked down to a confined from, with a minimum of bolting operations.

A still further advantage of the invention is to provide an improved form of knock-down reel for heavy cable in which the reel may readily be assembled by placing the drum sections of the reel in interengagement with channels carried by the flanges of the reel, and by bolting the drum sections in end-to-end relation with respect to each other to provide an assembled reel.

Another advantage of the invention is that the reel is so constructed and arranged that the drum sections may be assembled to the reel by detachable engagement with channels extending about the flanges of the reel, to retain the reel in its assembled form without bolting, and in which the drum sections may be detachably bolted or otherwise secured in end-to-end relation with respect to each other.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS I FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of a knock-down reel constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; 1

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken through the reel, wih certain parts removed; FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line 111- III of FIG. 1 illustrating the hub at one end of the reel;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line IV-IV of FIG. 1, illustrating a part of the channel for retaining the drum sections to the reel;

FIG. 5 is a view of one of the drum sections looking at the drum section from the inside thereof;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view illustrating the manner of bolting the drum sections in end-to-end relation with respect to each other, and looking at the retaining channel from the inside thereof;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view illustrating the interengaging connection between the drum section and a channel extending inwardly of the flange of the reel;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view illustrating the pocket for the cable;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary end view of a reel illustrating a modified form of pocket from that shown in FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken substantially along line X-X of FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, we have shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a reel 10 for storing and shipping heavy electric cable and the like, in the form of two parallel spaced heads or radial flanges 11 connected together at their inner ends by drum sections 12, formed in the form of sections of a circle and forming a cylindrical outer peripheral drum surface when connected in end-to-end relation with respect to each other.

The flanges 11 are annular in form and each include an outer peripheral rim l3 spaced outwardly of an internal flat ring or flange l5 and connected with the rim 13 by a ribbed flange, having plurality of integrally formed radially extending ribs 16 extending thereabout and forming a stiffening means for the flanges (FIGS. 1 and 4).

The inner ring or flange 15 is welded or otherwise secured to the associated radial flange 11 and is braced by cross braces 17 having bushings 19 at their transverse centers, forming bushings for a shaft and the like, supporting the reel for unreeling cable therefrom or for reeling cable thereon. The cross brace 17 is shown in FIG. 3 as being generally channel-like in section with the web of the channel extending along the outside of the reel and with a flat rectangular plate 20 connecting the insides of the legs of the channel with the bushing 19, as by welding, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6.

Extending inwardly of the ring 15 and opening toward the center of the reel is a channel 21 forming an interlocking member for the circumferentially .aligned drum sections 12. As shown in FIG. 7, the

channel 21 opens outwardly and has an outer flange 22 extending laterally of one leg of said channel and abutting the inside of the ring and welded or otherwise secured thereto. An opposite flange 23 extends laterally inwardly of the opposite leg of the channel, in alignment with the flange 22, and forms a support for the outer edge portion of a drum section 12.

Each drum section 12 has a ring 25 secured to each end thereof and extending radially inwardly therefrom for substantially the length thereof. The rings 25 are welded or otherwise secured to the edges of the drum section 12 and fit in a channel 21. At least one lug 26 is welded in each channel, and is abutted by adjacent ends of the ring sections 25, to prevent the drum sections from revolving in the channels. Each drum section 12 has radially inwardly extending flanges 27 at opposite ends thereof, in abutting engagement with each other when the drum sections are assembled to the channels 21 to form a cylindrical drum. Nuts and bolts 29, or other suitable securing means may detachably secure the drum sections together and secure the reel in assembled relation (FIGS. 2 and 6).

When the cable is initially wound onto the reel it is desirable to have a means to secure the initial or inner end of the cable to the reel to prevent slipping of the cable on the reel and to facilitate the initial stages of the winding operation. ln order to accomplish this, at least one flange member 11 is provided with a cable port or pocket 30 to receive the end of the cable (FIG. 8). The webbing of the flange 11 is removed in the area defined by the pocket, to permit access of the end of the cable into the pocket from the inside of the reel. The end of the cable can be held to the pocket by means of a clamp or other suitable attaching device (not shown) while the cable is being wound onto the reel. As an amount of cable is wound onto the reel sufficient to retain the cable to the reel, the clamp (not shown) may be removed and the stub of the cable stuffed into the pocket 30. A cover 31 is provided to cover the pocket 30. Said cover is secured to the cross brace 17 as by a machine screw 32 and is turned downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 8 to afford access to the pocket 30 and is turned outwardly to cover the pocket and secured in closed relation with respect to the pocket, as by tightening the machine screw 32.

FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate an alternate form of pocket. In this fonn of pocket a slot 33 is provided in a drum section 12 opening through the drum section to a pocket 35 within the peripheral portion of the drum section. In this form of the invention, the inner end of the cable may be clamped or otherwise secured to the pocket 35 in a conventional manner, which is not herein shown or described since it forms no part of the present invention. The cable may then be wound on the drum and retained in clamped relation with respect thereto if desired, or the clamp may be released when sufficient cable has been wound on the reel to retain the cable to the reel during further winding.

It may be seen from the foregoing that a simplified form of knock-down reel for heavy cable has been provided in which the two end flanges are in the form of separate pieces in collapsed of and the drum portion of the reel is in the form of a series of segmental sections having interengagement with the reel flanges, to retain the reel in assembled relation with respect to each other and pinned, bolted or otherwise secured together at their opposite ends to positively retain the reel in assembled relation for shipment and use. It should be further understood that when the reel has been emptied and it is desired to ship the empty reel back to the point of shipment of the reel and cable, it is merely necessary to release the bolts 29 or other securing means as indicated by reference numeral 29 in FIGS. 2 and 6 and then remove the drum sections from the end flanges by slipping them radially outwardly of said flanges. The dismantled reel may then be returned to its point of shipment in a knock-down state requiring a minimum amount of space as returned to its destination.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a knock-down reel for shipping cable and the like, two laterally spaced annular parallel heads, having a center opening of a size sufficient to provide access thereto, a cross brace diametrically spanning the inner periphery of each head and provided with bushings at their centers, a plurality of aligned drum sections between said heads coaxial with the centers thereof and in abutting engagement with each other, each head having at least one inwardly extending radially outwardly opening channel spaced inwardly from the outer periphery thereof, said drum sections each comprising a partial drum section having a cylindrical periphery, and having partial cylindrical rings extending radially inwardly from opposite sides thereof and forming said drum sections to form and fitting within said channels for substantially the length thereof and engaging said channels and retaining said drum sections to said heads, and flanges extending inwardly from opposite ends of said drum sections into abutting engagement with each other when in said channels, and fastening means accessible through said center opening in said heads and extending through said flanges detachably retaining said drum sections together.

2. In a knock-down reel for shipping cable and the like, two laterally spaced parallel annular heads, having a center opening of a size sufficient to provide access thereto, each head having an annular flange portion defining the inner margin thereof, a cross-brace diametrically spanning the inner periphery of each head and provided with bushings at their centers, the axial inner edge of said flange portion terminating into an outer opening channel having an axially extending flange portion extending therefrom toward the opposite head when assembled, a plurality of aligned drum sections spacing said heads apart to define a cylindrical drum coaxial with the centers of said heads, each drum section having a partial ring secured to each of the curved edges thereof for engagement with said channels with the drum sections supported on said axial extending flange portions, said drum sections each having an inwardly extending radial flange at each straight end thereof adapted to abut a like flange of the next adjacent drum section fastening means for fastening said drum sections into abutting engagement with each other, said fastening means being accessible through the center openings in the annular heads, and at least one of said channels having a lug therein adapted to be abutted by adjacent ends of two of said rings to retain said drum sections from rotation relative to said heads. 

1. In a knock-down reel for shipping cable and the like, two laterally spaced annular parallel heads, having a center opening of a size sufficient to provide access thereto, a cross brace diametrically spanning the inner periphery of each head and provided with bushings at their centers, a plurality of aligned drum sections bEtween said heads coaxial with the centers thereof and in abutting engagement with each other, each head having at least one inwardly extending radially outwardly opening channel spaced inwardly from the outer periphery thereof, said drum sections each comprising a partial drum section having a cylindrical periphery, and having partial cylindrical rings extending radially inwardly from opposite sides thereof and forming said drum sections to form and fitting within said channels for substantially the length thereof and engaging said channels and retaining said drum sections to said heads, and flanges extending inwardly from opposite ends of said drum sections into abutting engagement with each other when in said channels, and fastening means accessible through said center opening in said heads and extending through said flanges detachably retaining said drum sections together.
 2. In a knock-down reel for shipping cable and the like, two laterally spaced parallel annular heads, having a center opening of a size sufficient to provide access thereto, each head having an annular flange portion defining the inner margin thereof, a cross-brace diametrically spanning the inner periphery of each head and provided with bushings at their centers, the axial inner edge of said flange portion terminating into an outer opening channel having an axially extending flange portion extending therefrom toward the opposite head when assembled, a plurality of aligned drum sections spacing said heads apart to define a cylindrical drum coaxial with the centers of said heads, each drum section having a partial ring secured to each of the curved edges thereof for engagement with said channels with the drum sections supported on said axial extending flange portions, said drum sections each having an inwardly extending radial flange at each straight end thereof adapted to abut a like flange of the next adjacent drum section fastening means for fastening said drum sections into abutting engagement with each other, said fastening means being accessible through the center openings in the annular heads, and at least one of said channels having a lug therein adapted to be abutted by adjacent ends of two of said rings to retain said drum sections from rotation relative to said heads. 